REVIEW OF RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECTS IN

BANGLADESH

A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL AND

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING (MCE), ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

IN THE PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE

OF BACHELOR IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

PREPARED BY:

Md. Mahir Abdud Daiyan (081409)

Al-Rafin Ahmad (081426)

SUPERVISED BY:

Dr. A.K.M. Sadrul Islam

Professor, Department of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering

Islamic University of Technology (IUT)

Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)

Acknowledgement

By the grace and blessings of Almighty Allah we have finally completed our Thesis

successfully. We express our heartiest gratefulness to Almighty Allah for giving us that

capability.

First and foremost, we feel grateful and acknowledge our profound indebtedness to

Professor Dr. Md. Abdur Razzaq Akhanda, Head, Department of Mechanical and

Chemical Engineering, Islamic University of Technology and our Supervisor Professor

Dr. A.K.M. Sadrul Islam, Department of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering, Islamic

University of Technology. Their endless patience, scholarly guidance, continual

encouragement, constant and energetic supervision, constructive criticism, valuable

advice at all stages has made it possible to complete this project.

We would like to take opportunity to thank our teachers for guiding us throughout this

thesis and for giving us valuable advice when required. We would also like to thank our

friends who helped us in this thesis.

Finally, we like to offer thanks to all my classmates, juniors and many others who

contributed us in many ways during the thesis work.

Table of Contents

1. Abstract 1

2. Introduction 2

3. Present Status 3

4. Perspective and development of

Renewable Energy in Bangladesh

4

5. Solar Energy 4

6. Solar irrigation pump 10

7. Solar mini grid 10

8. Biomass 11

9. Biogas 12

10. Wind Energy 16

11. Hydropower 18

12. Conclusion 21

13. References 22

1 | P a g e

Abstract

Energy is one of the basic needs of the present human civilization. Without energy a

nation can not be developed. All the developed countries in the world have the adequate

power generation. But in the developing and third world countries like Bangladesh is

facing the deficiency of power generation which is a big barrier in the overall

development of this country. The main source of energy in Bangladesh is natural gas.

Due to continuous use of this source it is likely to be depleted by the year 2020. As

natural resources are limited we can think of renewable energy resources which are

abundant in our country.

2 | P a g e

Introduction

Now a days, energy is the major requirement for the development of a country. Energy

can neither be created nor destroyed. It can only be transformed from one form to

another. All the developed and developing countries in the world including Bangladesh

are advancing by producing power with their resources. But as a developing country

Bangladesh is facing a problem to produce required amount of power due to shortage of

natural resources like natural gas, coal, oil etc. Bangladesh is situated on the northern

coast of Bay of Bengal and is surrounded by India with a small common border of

Myanmar in the south-east. The total area of this country is 1,47,570 km² . Its population

is 162.20 million in 2011 and it is a densely populated country in the world (1099

people/km² in 2010) [1]. Among them 72% of the people living in rural areas. Only 47%

of the total population have access to the electricity. So the greater part of the population

are deprived of adequate power. Without electrifying this huge population a nation like

Bangladesh can not be developed. So necessary steps should be taken to solve this

problem. National grid can not fulfill the present demand of the country due to presense

of inadequate natural resources. In Bangladesh main source of energy is natural gas

(24%) which will be depleted by 2020 due to continuous use [2]. As natural resources

are depleted day by day and the gird expansion in the rural areas is highly expensive so

we can think of alternative sources. In this perspective, renewable energy can be the

better solution for electrifying the people. Renewable energy sources are abundant in our

country. So, producing power by this energy can meet the demand of the greater portion

of people and reduce pressure on the conventional system.

3 | P a g e

Present Status

At present, Bangladesh is facing power crisis acutely. In 2012, it is observed that the peak

power demand is 6000MW per day while it is increased to 7000MW during summer [3].

According to BPDB, the generation capacity is increased to about 8100MW (FY-2012).

So far, the maximun demand that is satisfied is 6350MW on August 4, 2012. Excessive

load shedding occurs due to power shortage throughout the year. About 67.11% of the

power plants are greatly depend on gas. 21.7%, 6.15%, 2.41% and 2.65% of the total

electricity are supplied by furnace oil, diesel, coal and hydro power respectively

(September 9, 2012). About 600MW loss in production is due to inadequate supply of gas

[4]. So by the conventional or mainstream energy the crying need for power can not be

fulfilled as it is bleak in Bangladesh, regarding to the huge gap between demand and

supply. The need for power supply is increasing day by day and for Government it is

indeed impossible to meet the demand by the conventional or mainstream energy in terms

of its economic and technological restraints. There is alternative of conventional energy

by renewable resources available in the country such as solar, biogas, hydropower and

wind energy through which the crippling power shortage can be solved.

4 | P a g e

Perspective and development of Renewable Energy in

Bangladesh

There is a plenty of renewable energy resources in Bangladesh. Among them solar,

biomass, biogas, wind, hydro power are remarkable sources of energy. Bangladesh

Government has aimed to produce 5% of the total power generation by 2015 and 10% by

2020 from renewable energy resources. In this aspect several NGO’s have come forward

to develop the power generation sector. Among them Infrastructure Development

Company Limited (IDCOL), Grameen Shakti (GS), Bangladesh Rural Advancement

Committee (BRAC), Rahim Afrooz etc are remarkable.

The potentials and the development of the renewable energy are as follows-

Solar Energy

There is a strong potential for solar energy within the country. Through solar photovoltaic

(PV)system power can be produce by converting sunlight into electricity using solar

panel. Bangladesh is situated between 20.30 and 26.38 degrees north latitude and 88.04

and 92.44 degrees east longitude. As a result it is the suitable area for harnessing and

utilization of solar energy. The hours of sunlight per day throughout a year can be shown

by the following figure-1 [5]. The highest and the lowest intensity of the direct radiation

of sunlight are also shown by figure-2 [5].

5 | P a g e

Fig-1: Amount of hours of sunlight in Bangladesh

Fig-2: The highest and lowest intensity of direct radiation in W/m²

6 | P a g e

From these two graphs we can see that the maximum amount of radiation is available in

the month of March-April and minimum in the month of December-January. From a

recent study, the daily average solar radiation varies between 4 to 6.5 kWh per square

meter. The seasonal variations over the year is small. So it is suitable for solar energy.

Fig: Solar Energy

Different oragnisations disseminate the solar home sytem (SHS) in the rural areas of

Bangladesh through their solar energy program. Solar PV systems are in practice

throughout the country with over 1.5 million household-level installations of about

75MW (August,2012) capacity [4]. Infrastructure Development Company Limited

7 | P a g e

(IDCOL), Rural Electrification Board (REB), Local Government Engineering

Department (LGED), Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), different NGOs

and private organisations have come forward to implement this solar program.

Dissemination of solar home systems (SHSs) is being promoted mainly by private sector

companies and NGOs, mainly based on the direct-sale approach and provision

refinancing funds for micro-financing of SHSs to participating organizations (mostly

NGOs) through IDCOL. Progress with SHS’s installation upto 29 April, 2012 [6] is given

here-

Table-1: Installation of Solar Home System

Partner Organization Number of SHSs Installed

Grameen Shakti 795,957

RSF 216,434

BRAC 77,019

Srizony Bangladesh 58,927

Hilful Fuzul Samaj Kallyan Sangstha 37,078

UBOMUS 25,234

BRIDGE 20,449

Integrated Development Foundation 14,238

TMSS 13,059

8 | P a g e

PDBF 10,672

SEF 21,720

AVA 12,817

DESHA 10,931

BGEF 16,995

RDF 20027

COAST 6,181

INGEN 9,871

CMES 5,714

NUSRA 9,372

RIMSO 8,196

Shubashati 5,370

REDI 5,711

GHEL 6,138

SFDW 9,485

PMUK 2,166

Patakuri 3,409

ADAMS 2,848

AFAUS 1,161

RISDA 1,552

9 | P a g e

Xenergeia 320

Other 389

Total 1,429,440

Division wise installation of SHSs

Division Number of SHSs Installed

Barisal 265,320

Chittagong 278,730

Dhaka 374,587

Khulna 158,409

Rajshahi 200,480

Sylhet 151,914

Total 1,429,440

10 | P a g e

Solar irrigation pump

To run a submermisible solar water pump, IDCOL is financing a 11.2 kWp solar

photovoltaic (PV) power plant at Shapahar, Naogaon with a capacity of 250,000 liters per

day at 35 meter head [7].

The two ongoing project of Rural Electrification Board (REB) are capacity of 135.84

kWp and 183.7 kWp located in Chapai-Nawabganj, Rangpur, Tangail, Gopalganj,

Mymensingh.

A 10 HP solar powered irrigation pump has been installed by Rahimafrooz at Savar,

Dhaka.

Solar mini grid

Nation’s first solar mini grid of 100 kW has been installed in the remote island of

Sandwip, Chittagong. IDCOL has financed the power plant with grant and loan from

KfW of Germany. Purobi green energy limited is distributing solar power through a mini

grid to make the daily demand of a rural market of Sandwip [12].

11 | P a g e

Biomass

Biomass is the most significant source of energy in Bangladesh. This technology can be

used to generate electricity in this country mainly in rural areas. Biomass is carbon,

hydrogen and oxygen based. The prime sources of biomass fuel are rice husk, bran,

wood, twigs, jute stick, leaves, livestock (animal dung) etc. These are abundant in our

country. So we can make best use of these sources.

A 250 kW biomass based power plant has been installed at Kapasia, Gazipur. That is

financed by IDCOL. For setting up this plant IDCOL provided concessionary loan and

grants, sourced from IDA and the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), for a total

project cost of 25 million taka of which the World Bank provided 60%. The project

sponsor is the Dream Power Private Limited (DPPL). The plant is expected to supply

environment friendly grid quality power to 300 households and commercial entities of

that area [7].

IDCOL is also financing 400 kW biomass based gasification power plant at Chilarong,

Thakurgaon sadar, Thakurgaon. The total cost of this project is 64.25 million taka. The

project sponsor is Sustainable Energy and Agro-resource Limited (SEAL) [7].

12 | P a g e

Biogas

One of the most promising renewable energy resources in Bangladesh is biogas which

can be produced from animal and municipal wastes. For a developing country like

Bangladesh, it is economically beneficial to convert waste materials into energy. Biogas

may be produced by the anaerobic digestion (absence of oxygen) of biodegradable

materials such as biomass, municipal wastes, green waste, plant materials, manure etc.

After the fermentation methane (CH4) (60-70%) and carbon dioxide (CO2) (30-40%) and

may have small amounts of hydrogen sulphide (H2S) are produced. Biogas comprises of

these components.

Fig: Biogas Plant

13 | P a g e

About 82% of the electricity generation has been derived from the natural gas. As it is

continuously used in different purposes so it will be depleted in the recent years. In this

aspect, the Government and different NGOs have come forward to disseminate biogas

plant in Bangladesh as it is suitable in this country. A 4 kW power generation plant has

been installed by LGED at Faridpur Muslim Mission. At Kashimpur, Gazipur another

10kW project of Advance Animal Science Company Limited has been installed under

German Technical Cooperation [8]. For setting up of three biogas based electricity

generation plants, one in Mymensingh and two in Gazipur are financed by IDCOL. There

is an Organic Fertilizer Plant in Gazipur by Paragon Agro Limited [7]. About 22,549

biogas plants have been installed throughout the country up to April, 2012. Progress with

biogas plant installation up to April, 2012 of different organizations [9]is given in a table

–

Table-2: Installation of Biogas Plant

Partner Organization

Biogas Plant

Completed

Grameen Shakti (GS) 12,795

Rahman Renewable Energy Co. Ltd. (RB) 972

Save our Urban Life -SOUL 784

Kamrul Biogas and Compost Fertilizer Research Development

Co. Ltd. (KB)

783

Hossain Biogas and Compost Fertilizer Company Ltd. (HB) 634

14 | P a g e

Rural Services Foundation (RSF) 925

Srizony Bangladesh 610

DESHA 655

Shubashati 493

Basic Organization Network for Development and

Humanitarian Aid for Nation (BONDHAN)

407

Nirapad Engineering 344

Bhelabazar Shamaz Unnayan Sangstha (BSUS) 316

Development of Poor Society (DOPS) 190

Samaj Unnayan Kendra (SUK) 331

Anannyo Samaj Kallyan Sangostha (ASKS) 178

Mohila Bohumukhi Sikkha Kendra (MBSK) 103

Access toward Livelihood and Welfare Organisation (ALWO) 132

Sonali Unnayan Foundation (SUF) 99

Jahanara Biogas Construction Co.Ltd (JB) 82

SETU 93

RISDA-Bangladesh 310

Rural Reconstruction Foundation (RRF) 164

Shariatpur Development Society (SDS) 41

Barendra Advancement Intergrated Committee (BAIC) 68

15 | P a g e

Gonoshasthaya Kendra (GK) 44

Gram Bikash Kendra (GBK) 61

Center for Community Development & Research (CCDR) 340

ADAMS 68

Bright Green Energy Foundation (BGEF) 22

Ghashful 33

NUSRA 20

GHEL 80

Grameen Motsho O Poshusampad Foundation 48

PIPASA 9

LPEP Renewable Energy Bangladesh Ltd 5

WAVE Foundation 22

MAKS 5

Others 283

Total 22,549

16 | P a g e

Wind Energy

The rapid growing renewable energy source in the world is wind energy. Among other

renewable energy sources, it is low in price. In wind energy, kinetic energy of wind is

used as it is always moving. The power that is produced is directly proportional to the

cube of speed of the wind. Coastal areas, higher areas are suitable for developing wind

power plant. Bangladesh has a coastal line of 724 km and many small islands along the

Bay of Bengal. Here a strong south-westerly tradewind and sea-breeze blow in the

summer season and a north-easterly tradewind and land breeze during the winter season.

Wind speed is higher in coastal areas. The variation of wind is from 4-5.5 m/s at a height

of 25-50 m. The average wind speed in different areas of Bangladesh [1] is given here –

Table-3: Wind condition in different areas of Bangladesh

Site Reference height (m) Annual average wind

speed (m/s)

Teknaf 5 2.16

Cox’s bazaar 10 2.42

Patenga Airport 5 2.45

Kutubdia island 6 2.09

Sandwip island 5 2.16

17 | P a g e

Fig: Wind Energy

Hatia island 6 2.08

Bhola island 7 2.44

Khepupara 10 2.36

Comilla Airport 6 2.21

18 | P a g e

A 0.90 MW capacity of wind energy at the Muhuri Dam areas in the Feni has been

implemented by Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) in 2004. There are 2

MW of installed wind turbine at Feni and Kutubdia. SRE has installed seven small wind

turbines at St. Martin’s Island. Each of the turbine has a capacity of 3.2 kW at a rated

wind speed of 10.5 m/s [10].

Hydropower

Bangladesh is flat delta plain covered by a lot of big and small rivers. Current of river

water and low head of water fall may be used for harnessing hydro power. The power

output of a hydroelectric power station depends on the availability depends on the

amount of water and its head. Hydropower assessments have identified some possible

sites from 10 kW to 5 MW but no appreciable capacity has yet been installed. There is

one hydro power plant at Kaptai established in the 1960s with present installed capacity

of 230 MW. BPDB has identified another two prospective sites for the generation of

hydro power at Sangu and Matamuhuri River. The potential small hydrosites of

Bangladesh that are identified by BPDB and BWDB [11]are given in a table-

19 | P a g e

Table-4: Potential small hydrosites that are identified by BPDB and BWDB

District Name of river/chara/stream Potential of electrical

energy in kW

Chittagong 1. Foy’s lake 4

Chittagong 2. Choto kumira 15

Chittagong 3. Hinguli chara 12

Chittagong Hill Tracts 4.Sealock 81

Chittagong 5. Lungi chara 10

Chittagong 6. Budia chara 10

Sylhet 7. Nikhari chara 26

Sylhet 8. Ranga pani Gung 616

Jamalpur 9. Bhugai-kongsa at 2 miles

U/S of Nalitabari P.S

69 kW for 10 months

48 kW for 2 months

Jamalpur 10. Marisi at Dukabad near

Jhinaigati Thana Head

Quarter

35 Kw for 10 months

20 Kw for 2 months

Dinajpur 11. Dahuk at Burabari

12. Chawai at U/S of

Chawai L.L.P

24

32

20 | P a g e

13. Talam at U/S of Talam

L.L.P

14. Pathraj at Fulbari 15.

Tangon at D/S of Nargun

L.L.P

16. Punarbhaba at

Singraban

24

32

48

11

Rangpur 17. Bhuri khora Chikli at

Nizbari

18. Fulkumar at Raigang

Bazar

32

48

21 | P a g e

Conclusion

As Bangladesh is facing acute energy crisis and its conventional energy is failed to meet

the necessary demand of the country. In this aspect, dissemination of renewable energy

throughout the country should be the first priority to solve the present energy crisis as

well as to improve the living condition of the mass people of rural and remote areas.

Therefore, the Government and private sectors should emphasize on renewable energy

sources to solve the present power shortage.

22 | P a g e

References

1. Prospect and Trend of Renewable Energy and Its Technology

towards Climate Change Mitigation and Sustainable

Development in Bangladesh

Khalid Md. Bahauddin*, Tariq Md. Salahuddin

Department of Environment (DOE), Dhaka, Bangladesh

*Corresponding Author E-mail Address: khalid.bahauddin@gmail.com

2. Prospect of Renewable Energy as the Solution of the Existing Energy Crisis of

Bangladesh

Md. Alim Iftekhar Rasel, Saiham Siraj, Kazi Moshiur Rahman

3. Present Scenario of Renewable Energy in Bangladesh and a Proposed Hybrid

System to Minimize Power Crisis in Remote Areas

Nahid-ur-RahmanChowdhury*, Syed Enam Reza*, TofaeelAhamedNitol*,

Abd-Al-Fattah-IbneMahabub*

*Department of EEE, Ahsanullah University of Science & Technology, Dhaka-

Bangladesh

4. energypedia bangladesh country situation

https://energypedia.info/index.php/Bangladesh_Country_Situation

23 | P a g e

5. Kazy Fayeen Shariar, Enaiyat Ghani Ovy, Kazi Tabassum Aziz Hossainy,

“Closed Environment Design of Solar Collector Trough using lenss and

reflectors” , World Renewable Energy Congress 2011, Sweden

6. http://www.idcol.org/prjshsm2004.php

7. http://www.idcol.org/energyProject.php

8. RENEWABLE ENERGY SNAPSHOT AND PROSPECT IN BANGLADESH

Mohammad Uzzal Hossain Joardder1, Md. Shazib Uddin2, Barun Kumar Das3, Omar

Faroque4

1,2,3Department of Mechanical Engineering

Rajshahi University of Engineering & Technology, Rajshahi-6204, Bangladesh

4Department of Business Administration

Northern University, Rajshahi, Bangladesh

muhjoardder@gmail.com*, shazib0397@gmail.com, barun_ruet@yahoo.com,

omar_ntcu@yahoo.com

9. http://www.idcol.org/biogass_installation.php

10. http://www.lged-rein.org/lged.php

24 | P a g e

11. A Comprehensive Study ofMicro-Hydropower Plant and

Its Potential in Bangladesh

Jahidul Islam Razan, Riasat Siam Islam, Rezaul Hasan, Samiul Hasan, and Fokhrul

Islam

Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Islamic University of Technology,

BoardBazar, Gazipur 1704, Bangladesh

Correspondence should be addressed to Jahidul Islam Razan, parthib 1090@yahoo.com

12. http://energysystemsbd.com/portfolio.html